Survey Shows Early Childhood Is a Great Time for Farm to School

The results are in: Farm to School in early care and education builds healthy kids with bright futures!

In 2015, the National Farm to School Network surveyed early care and education providers across the country. Nearly 1,500 providers serving 183,369 young children in 49 states and Washington, DC, responded and shared with us fascinating insight into the important work that they are doing to connect young children to healthy, local foods and food related educational opportunities.

Over 54% of respondents say they are already doing farm to school activities and another 28% have plans to start in the near future. There’s a reason farm to school in early care and education is on the rise.

Providers say they choose farm to school to support children’s health (95%), teach children about where food comes from and how it grows (95%), and provide experiential learning opportunities (94%). Respondents agree, farm to school activities help create high quality learning environments that promote life-long health and wellness, which are important priorities for children, providers and parents.

To see the survey results and learn about expanding farm to school in early care and education, visit www.farmtoschool.org/earlychildhood. You'll see an infographic and factsheet to make it easy to share these exciting results. Please show others how farm to school in early care and education is supporting healthy kids with bright futures. Join us in supporting good health and great education for young children!